Let me say it right from the very beginning: I am a huge Office 365 fan. I’ve known Microsoft Office since it had a 30-disk installation kit, and I simply love how it has evolved over the years. However, I know that you may not share my love for Microsoft’s products. So, here are several alternatives that have the potential to come really close, and in some cases may even exceed some of Office 365’s capabilities.
This office suite offers a huge number of products and services that work together in harmony. Right now, it includes Gmail, Drive, Meet, Calendar, Chat, Jamboard, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Keep, Sites and Forms.
You have probably used apps such as Gmail and Calendar without spending a dime for them, but the paid versions of these tools include much more generous limits. And the option of setting up a meeting, joining it, having a brainstorming session, and then saving the resulting files (all from within the same interface) is a huge timesaver.
Google Workspace’s pricing starts at $6/user/month. This subscription level will also bring you a business email address that can have several aliases, up to 100 participants in a video meeting, 30 GB of storage space and standard support. It’s the perfect plan for solopreneurs, but if you decide to shell out $12/month, you will be able to record your meetings without needing to use 3rd party software, and you will get a generous 2 TB of storage space in the cloud.
2. LibreOffice
This office suite is the successor to OpenOffice. Just like its predecessor, it is 100% free, even though business users can use the Enterprise versions if they are interested in getting long-term Service Level Agreements, tech support, custom features, and so on.
LibreOffice is compatible with Microsoft’s file formats, but it doesn’t always import all the resources correctly. The good news is that it can record macros, and then play them back, allowing you to automate various office-related tasks.
The software has dedicated versions for the Windows, Linux and macOS operating systems. It doesn’t run in the cloud, and it doesn't have any mobile apps, but frankly, you can’t beat its price of… free.
3. WPS Office
This lightweight office software offers a free version as well. It includes Writer, Spreadsheet, Presentation, and the PDF Editor. By purchasing the paid version of the suite, you will benefit from an ad-free experience, you’ll get access to a fully featured version of the PDF Editor, the ability to use WPS on up to nine devices at the same time, cloud collaboration, and 20 GB of online storage space.
People like this office package because it has a simple user interface, allows them to sync and access their documents through the cloud, and doesn't use much storage space on desktop PCs and mobile devices alike.
WPS isn’t that snappy when it needs to work with large files, though. Some users aren’t happy about the number of ads that show up in the free version of the application, but you can have them removed if you pay the decent $30/year fee for the premium version of the software.
This little-known office suite has been built as a desktop-based application, which can be installed and used on up to five computers. Its file formats are compatible with Microsoft Office, though it only includes a word processor, a spreadsheet editor, and a presentation maker.
Some users complain that .doc and .docx files aren’t always imported flawlessly, but this will probably happen with any office suite – except for Office 365, of course. My recommendation is to test the free version of the application and see if it does the job.